Saturday, 27 August 2016

To complement the My Generation season across the BBC, another chance to hear when it was "all back to Keith's" as the legendary Rolling Stone talks about his incredible life and times, in the relaxed surroundings of his Connecticut living room.

We've seen plenty of Keith, the rock 'n' roll maverick, and the legendary Rolling Stone commanded even more headlines than usual following the publication of his autobiography.

Sexton has interviewed Richards, and his fellow Stones, on countless occasions over the past 15 years and this is reflected in the candid and often amusing nature of the exchange. Keith vividly describes controversial moments, memorable encounters, guitar heroes and proud achievements.

Richards describes his house and surroundings as he sits in front of a portrait of himself, revealing that it was created and then presented to him by a close, and very famous, friend. He discusses his devotion to the guitar, including the surprising confession: "I'm not a lead guitar player, basically, and never wanted to be". He also talks about his all-time favourite players: "I wanted to meet Scotty Moore more than I wanted to meet Elvis Presley."

The wide-ranging chat also covers the first record Keith ever bought, comic escapades on the road, his adulation of icons from Robert Johnson to Chuck Berry, how the Stones continue to extend the frontiers as rock's ultimate survivors, and much more besides - including his thoughts on Mick Jagger, his creative partner of nearly half a century.

The programmes are packed with colourful stories of an unparalleled life and illustrated with some of the best music of the past 50 years, made both by Keith and some of his own idols.

Friday, 26 August 2016

To complement the My Generation season across the BBC, another chance to hear when it was "all back to Keith's" as the legendary Rolling Stone talks about his incredible life and times, in the relaxed surroundings of his Connecticut living room.

We've seen plenty of Keith, the rock 'n' roll maverick, and the legendary Rolling Stone commanded even more headlines than usual following the publication of his autobiography.

Sexton has interviewed Richards, and his fellow Stones, on countless occasions over the past 15 years and this is reflected in the candid and often amusing nature of the exchange. Keith vividly describes controversial moments, memorable encounters, guitar heroes and proud achievements.

Richards describes his house and surroundings as he sits in front of a portrait of himself, revealing that it was created and then presented to him by a close, and very famous, friend. He discusses his devotion to the guitar, including the surprising confession: "I'm not a lead guitar player, basically, and never wanted to be". He also talks about his all-time favourite players: "I wanted to meet Scotty Moore more than I wanted to meet Elvis Presley."

The wide-ranging chat also covers the first record Keith ever bought, comic escapades on the road, his adulation of icons from Robert Johnson to Chuck Berry, how the Stones continue to extend the frontiers as rock's ultimate survivors, and much more besides - including his thoughts on Mick Jagger, his creative partner of nearly half a century.

The programmes are packed with colourful stories of an unparalleled life and illustrated with some of the best music of the past 50 years, made both by Keith and some of his own idols.

Thursday, 25 August 2016

To complement the My Generation season across the BBC, another chance to hear when it was "all back to Keith's" as the legendary Rolling Stone talks about his incredible life and times, in the relaxed surroundings of his Connecticut living room.

We've seen plenty of Keith, the rock 'n' roll maverick, and the legendary Rolling Stone commanded even more headlines than usual following the publication of his autobiography.

Sexton has interviewed Richards, and his fellow Stones, on countless occasions over the past 15 years and this is reflected in the candid and often amusing nature of the exchange. Keith vividly describes controversial moments, memorable encounters, guitar heroes and proud achievements.

Richards describes his house and surroundings as he sits in front of a portrait of himself, revealing that it was created and then presented to him by a close, and very famous, friend. He discusses his devotion to the guitar, including the surprising confession: "I'm not a lead guitar player, basically, and never wanted to be". He also talks about his all-time favourite players: "I wanted to meet Scotty Moore more than I wanted to meet Elvis Presley."

The wide-ranging chat also covers the first record Keith ever bought, comic escapades on the road, his adulation of icons from Robert Johnson to Chuck Berry, how the Stones continue to extend the frontiers as rock's ultimate survivors, and much more besides - including his thoughts on Mick Jagger, his creative partner of nearly half a century.

The programmes are packed with colourful stories of an unparalleled life and illustrated with some of the best music of the past 50 years, made both by Keith and some of his own idols.

Wednesday, 24 August 2016

To complement the My Generation season across the BBC, another chance to hear when it was "all back to Keith's" as the legendary Rolling Stone talks about his incredible life and times, in the relaxed surroundings of his Connecticut living room.

We've seen plenty of Keith, the rock 'n' roll maverick, and the legendary Rolling Stone commanded even more headlines than usual following the publication of his autobiography.

Sexton has interviewed Richards, and his fellow Stones, on countless occasions over the past 15 years and this is reflected in the candid and often amusing nature of the exchange. Keith vividly describes controversial moments, memorable encounters, guitar heroes and proud achievements.

Richards describes his house and surroundings as he sits in front of a portrait of himself, revealing that it was created and then presented to him by a close, and very famous, friend. He discusses his devotion to the guitar, including the surprising confession: "I'm not a lead guitar player, basically, and never wanted to be". He also talks about his all-time favourite players: "I wanted to meet Scotty Moore more than I wanted to meet Elvis Presley."

The wide-ranging chat also covers the first record Keith ever bought, comic escapades on the road, his adulation of icons from Robert Johnson to Chuck Berry, how the Stones continue to extend the frontiers as rock's ultimate survivors, and much more besides - including his thoughts on Mick Jagger, his creative partner of nearly half a century.

The programmes are packed with colourful stories of an unparalleled life and illustrated with some of the best music of the past 50 years, made both by Keith and some of his own idols.

Tuesday, 23 August 2016

'I
hope we passed the audition' were John Lennon's final words at the
Beatles' last public performance, a rooftop concert in 1969 at their
Apple Corps headquarters in Savile Row in London. This programme
explores how the concert came about.

Sunday, 21 August 2016

Back in 1966 the TV & pop worlds were shaken by the arrival of the Monkees, a post-Beatles, pre-boy band sensation who took the charts by storm, selling millions of records off the back of their hugely successful TV series.

The songs - I'm A Believer, Last Train To Clarksville, Daydream Believer and many more - were instant pop classics and the Monkees - Mike Nesmith, Mickey Dolenz, Peter Tork and Davy Jones - were instant pop stars.

Except that they weren't. They were actors playing a part, pretending to be a band, miming on screen and singing over other people's music. But like Pinocchio, they wanted to be real and the puppets turned, wrestling control of their records from the hands of the TV moguls and striking out on their own, a path that led them to the Sgt Pepper recording sessions, to Jimi Hendrix, to avant garde film-making and to a completely unique type of stardom.

Now, 50 years later, the Monkees are back with a big hit album full of songs written for them by the likes of Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher & Andy Partridge of XTC, alongside Neil Diamond & Harry Nilsson.

In this two part series, the Monkees tell their own story with new, exclusive interviews with the 3 surviving band members, alongside their friends, family and associates.

Saturday, 20 August 2016

Back in 1966 the TV & pop worlds were shaken by the arrival of the Monkees, a post-Beatles, pre-boy band sensation who took the charts by storm, selling millions of records off the back of their hugely successful TV series.

The songs - I'm A Believer, Last Train To Clarksville, Daydream Believer and many more - were instant pop classics and the Monkees - Mike Nesmith, Mickey Dolenz, Peter Tork and Davy Jones - were instant pop stars.

Except that they weren't. They were actors playing a part, pretending to be a band, miming on screen and singing over other people's music. But like Pinocchio, they wanted to be real and the puppets turned, wrestling control of their records from the hands of the TV moguls and striking out on their own, a path that led them to the Sgt Pepper recording sessions, to Jimi Hendrix, to avant garde film-making and to a completely unique type of stardom.

Now, 50 years later, the Monkees are back with a big hit album full of songs written for them by the likes of Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher & Andy Partridge of XTC, alongside Neil Diamond & Harry Nilsson.

In this two part series, the Monkees tell their own story with new, exclusive interviews with the 3 surviving band members, alongside their friends, family and associates.

Monday, 15 August 2016

To complement the My Generation season across the BBC, which is currently looking at the 60s, another chance to hear writer and comedian David Quantick examining the lasting impact of psychedelia on music and popular culture.

Monday, 8 August 2016

Art rocker Julian Cope takes you on a 60s psychedelic sojourn through his record collection including tracks by Soft Machine, Silver Apples, Kim Fowley and 13th Floor Elevators.

Through the Teardrop Explodes and his later solo material, Cope brought neo-psychedelic music to a new generation. In this show he shows how his love of psychedelic music was formed through artists such as Kim Fowley, the Electric Prunes, MC5, and Red Crayons.

Sunday, 7 August 2016

From the 1960s through to the present day funk music reverberates all through popular culture. Whether it's in fashion, street language, TV, the movies or pop music the far reaching influence of funk is everywhere. Pam Grier concludes her funk odyssey. She's been a fan of the music since she starred in the so-called Blaxploitation movies of the 1970s. Back then, funk was not only the soundtrack to her films but also to a vital time in American history. It was a time of self-discovery, struggle and social change. Funk music reflected all of that.

In this final part, Pam reveals how the scene started its inevitable decline. While funk bands such as Earth Wind and Fire could lay claim to being one of the largest acts in the world, by the end of the 1970s the beat changed. Disco music took over as the dance-floor music of choice and funk bands either joined the party or disappeared. It wasn't until the emergence of hip-hop that the music was introduced to a younger generation via record producers who sampled the old funk classics. The advance of music technology also helped a new electro-funk scene develop with a certain Prince Rodgers Nelson leading the way.

Pam also examines the often overlooked female funkateers including one of the genre's hidden gems, Betty Davis.

Saturday, 6 August 2016

From the 1960s through to the present day funk music reverberates all through popular culture. Whether it's in fashion, street language, TV, the movies or pop music, the far reaching influence of funk is everywhere. Actress Pam Grier continues her funk odyssey. She's been a fan of the music since she starred in the so-called Blaxploitation movies of the 1970s. Back then, funk was not only the soundtrack to her films but also to a vital time in American history. It was a time of self-discovery, struggle and social change. Funk music reflected all of that.

In part two, Pam examines the funkiest decade of all time: the 1970s. Back when bell bottoms, afros and hoop earrings were the thing, an explosion of bands took funk to the world stage. We're talking acts like George Clinton's P-Funk, Kool & the Gang, Stevie Wonder, Average White Band, The Bar-Kays, the Ohio Players and The Meters. Plus there was the emergence of new genres such as jazz funk, African funk and Latin funk.

Friday, 5 August 2016

From the 1960s through to the present day, funk music reverberates through popular culture. Whether it's in fashion, street language, TV, the movies or pop music, the far reaching influence of funk is everywhere. In this three-part series American actress Pam Grier takes listeners on an historic funk odyssey. She's been a fan of the music since she starred in the so-called Blaxploitation movies of the 1970s. Back then, funk was not only the soundtrack to her films but also to a vital time in American history. It was a time of self-discovery, struggle and social change. The music reflected all of that.

In this first part, Pam goes back to the source, when funk - in the words of George Clinton - "used to be a bad word." Pam reveals how jazz and the R&B music of the 50s informed the rhythms and energy of funk music. As well as the all important architects of the sound like James Brown and Sly Stone, the programme also shines a spotlight on some of the unsung heroes such as Charles Wright and the Last Poets.